>>New Lessons Package - The Decemberists - 6-Pack of Lessons

What we have so far, new songs added weekly!
jimi40
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Joined: Tue May 29, 2012 5:50 am
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Tue Aug 02, 2016 4:43 pm

Hi Everyone,

We have a brand new The Decemberists 6-Pack of Lessons.

Click here for more details

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The Decemberists lesson package includes six popular songs by this amazing indie folk rock band from Portland.

Lessons in this package are expertly taught by Vanessa.

Lessons in this package include:

Annan Water a fascinating song by The Decemberists, taken from their concept album, The Hazards Of Love, which
tells the dramatic and romantic story about William and Margaret. This is a fairly short lesson, since the guitar part
is quite straight all the way through. It should be played with a consistent, steady, uptempo strumming pattern, and
needs some individual bass notes picked out.

Calamity Song, the second track of 'The King Is Dead' album by the Decemberists, featuring the R.E.M guitarist Peter
Buck. It is another great song for beginning but also intermediate guitar players and contains a very fun to play
signature riff, an easy chord progression, four open chords in the key of D, along with a simple 4/4 strumming pattern.

In the lesson we take a look at a few patterns, how to finger some chords efficiently and the progression. More than
anything I talk you through the challenging, main driving uptempo signature riff which needs to be played with
consistency and focused strumming. There is a segment in which I talk about how Colin Meloy dresses up his playing a
bit with sus2 chords. I also explain how to play a sixteenth-note bounce which he uses a lot throughout the song.

June Hymn, featuring Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on backing vocals, is the eighth track of their album, The King
Is Dead, which was released in 2011. It features an easy chord progression in the key of G and in this lesson we take
a look at how to connect chords to each other with ascending and descending bass lines, which happen in lots of songs.
Also the hammer-ons, which can be used in many songs, add a very nice touch to it. Colin Meloy plays this song slower
when performing it by himself, but the strumming pattern can be a bit challenging since it's quite fast on the original.
It needs to be played randomly, although a few options are presented.

Make You Better, was released on their album 'What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World.' Make You Better is the
4th track and first single to be released. The lesson takes a look at the album version and also on how Colin Meloy, the
front man of the band, plays it by himself.

It's in the key of D, using the I, IV, V and VI, with two different shapes for each chord. The lesson covers the progression
and takes a close look at the speed of the strumming hand, since Colin tends to change from the speed of 16th's to 8th's
back and forth throughout the song, sometimes even within a measure.

Another important aspect is the syncopated chord changes which mainly happen mainly in the intro, outro, interlude and
verses, but also in the other sections of the song.

The Hazards Of Love 4, also called The Drowned, is the final heartbreaking track of the Decemberists' concept album of
the same name. It tells the dramatic and romantic story of William and Margaret. Like several other Decemberists' songs,
it features a simple chord progression in the key of G, using open chords only. There are also a few little embellishments,
picking out the bass notes and passing bass notes, all played with a simple strumming pattern. Since it's a heartbreaking
and tragic song, the challenge lies in playing it as such. The lesson includes is a segment in which we take a look how you
can do that.

Down By The Water, featuring Gillian Welch on backing vocals, is the fourth track of their album, The King Is Dead, which
was released in 2011. It's a great song for beginning guitar players because it consists of just a few chords and a simple
strumming pattern. The lesson is set up in a 'work it out' format, so make sure not to look at the chart or even watch videos
of Colin Meloy playing it, if you want to work on your ear training skills. There is also a segment about how to dress up the
playing a bit.